The present invention relates to a wear-resistant member formed of a sintered ceramic body of a silicon nitride-based ceramic and a manufacturing method thereof.
Since a sintered ceramic body, in particular, an Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 -based sintered ceramic body, exhibits good mechanical characteristics at high temperatures, it is conventionally used as a material for various structures.
However, such a sintered ceramic body does not exhibit sufficient resistance against wear and fracture. Therefore, sintered ceramic bodies are merely used as wear-resistant members such as a bearing or a cutting tool. Further if such a sintered ceramic body is used as such a member, the sintered ceramic body does not have a sufficient tool life.
On the other hand, cutting tools conventionally manufactured by integrally brazing a hard-metal chip to a shank or by clamping it thereto, cannot be used for high-speed cutting or high-load work such as grooving of a wood material.